Black pepper garlic kuzhambu

I simply had to post this kuzhambu recipe, because it is just literally so lip-smackingly good - thick, tangy, hot, spicy, a tiny bit sweet and entirely irresistible! The recipe is from a foodie group on Facebook of which I am a member, and I can't seem to find it again on FB (which I wanted to do for crediting purposes on my blog). I am SO pleased that I wrote it down on a piece of paper when I saw it on FB (not having had access to a printer or my own computer at that point). I state freely that this is not my own recipe, and I do really wish I knew whose it was. All I DO know for certain that it is comfort food whose ingredients are good for health.

I made the kuzhambu and refrigerated it just before going on a week-long trip on a narrowboat with my husband. It was a lovely, relaxing, stressfree holiday, with the most gorgeous, eye-poppingly pretty scenery... but that's only by the way. The main thing is, I knew that the food I would be eating on the boat (and off it, at the various canal-side pubs that we stopped at) would not be spicy enough for me, and I would be dying for something to tickle my palate when we got back.

And so it turned out.

I certainly enjoyed the food en route, but I couldn't wait to get stuck into hot and spicy comfort food when we got home - and this kuzhambu was absolutely just the thing. I could not have asked for anything better. All I had to do was make some rice - and because it was too late to make any vegetable side-dish to accompany it (and because I was much too hungry), I just microwaved a couple of poppadoms and ladled the kuzhambu on the rice. It tasted like heaven - but there was rather too much of the kuzhambu on the rice, because it was so full-on hot and peppery. It's really meant to be mixed with rice in small amounts, not in quantities like regular sambar or rasam. I had to tone the spice quotient down somewhat with a large dollop of Greek yogurt on the side of my plate, but that was a wonderful combination anyway.

Oh, and if you're wondering why I didn't mention the taste of the large amounts of garlic that went into the kuzhambu, it's because it doesn't come across as overly garlicky. So don't worry about it, and don't skimp on the garlic; in fact, next time I will probably add even more garlic. It's good for you, anyway, so no harm done.

One other thing - the correct amount of salt is essential, otherwise the kuzhambu tends to be on the sweetish side. I'm used to making do with less salt in my cooking than (after all, you can always add more, but you can't really undo oversalting disasters!) but in this case I did have to add some more. So, it would probably be best to start by adding 3/4 tsp salt, then taste-testing to see if your palate requires more. Let your tongue and palate be the judge.

Happy eating!

Recipe for: Black pepper garlic kuzhambu



Ingredients:

1/4 cup baby shallots/sambar onions
1 tbsp tamarind paste, dissolved in 1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp jaggery (raw palm sugar) (optional)
1 tbsp neutral oil
Salt to taste

To grind:

1-2 tsp black peppercorns (more if you love your black pepper)
6-8 dried red chillies
1 whole head of garlic (about 1/8 cup garlic cloves, peeled and chopped into chunks if very large)
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 medium onion
1 medium tomato
3 sprigs curry leaves

To temper:

1 tbsp nallennai (unrefined sesame oil)
1/2 tsp vendhayam (methi/fenugreek seeds)
2 tsp mustard seeds
10 curry leaves

Method:

1. Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in a small pan and add the first four items on the "To grind" list. Saute for 2-3 minutes on med-high, stirring, until the chillies turn a darker shade of red and the garlic is starting to turn colour. Then add the remaining ingredients and fry until the garlic is golden. Allow to cool, then grind to a smooth paste. Set aside till required.

2. Heat the remaining neutral oil, add the small onions and fry till golden (approx 3-4 minutes). Add the tamarind water, salt to taste, turmeric and jaggery. Bring it to a boil and let it bubble for 2 minutes.

3. Now add the ground paste and 2 cups water and mix well. Bring to a boil again and let it simmer for 10 minutes, or until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

4. As a final touch, heat the nallennai in a small pan, then add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Cover and let the mustard seeds pop. Now tip in the fenugreek seeds and fry for 30 seconds or until the seeds turn a darker shade of brown. Be careful not to burn the seeds or they will be horribly bitter. Pour the tempering over the kuzhambu and stir it in. Let it simmer for another 3 minutes, then take the pan off the heat.

Serve sparingly over steamed white rice with a dollop of ghee, any dry vegetable curry and microwaved poppadoms.

Spinach-chana dal sabji

What do you call something that’s not quite a Kerala-style thoran and not quite a Tamil-Nadu-style sundal, something for which you don’t have a South Indian term really? Give it a North Indian name, of course, because the term "curry" isn't the perfect description either. So that’s why this is a spinach-chana dal sabji.

You can cook the chana dal separately in a pressure cooker, in which case you’ll need a couple of steps from the recipe below. That is to say, once you've followed Step 1 and popped the mustard seeds, add the spinach and just 1/4 cup water and let it cook till the spinach is wilted. Then add the pressure-cooked chana dal and go directly to Step 5.

To quote a certain once-cute and now-irritating meerkat – seemples!

Recipe for: Spinach-chana dal sabji



Ingredients:

4 cups spinach, chopped
1/2 cup chana dal
1-1/4 cups water
1 tsp mustard seeds
4-5 fresh curry leaves
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
2 tsp oil

Grind to a smooth paste:
2 tbsp grated coconut
3-4 green chillies (or to taste
2 shallots
1 cm piece fresh ginger root

Method:

1. Heat the oil, then add asafoetida, curry leaves and mustard seeds and let the seeds pop. Then add the raw chana dal and fry for 3-4 minutes.



2. Pour in the water and bring it to a brisk boil on high heat. Let it boil for 2 minutes, then turn down the heat and let the dal simmer till it is cooked (10-15 minutes).



The dal should be translucent - easy to squash between finger and thumb but still retaining its shape.



3. Now add the spinach and stir it well.



4. Cover the pan and let it cook on low heat for 5 minutes or till the spinach is wilted.



5. Now stir in the ground coconut masala. Make sure it is mixed in well.




Let the spinach cook for another 2-3 mintes. Serve as a side dish with rotis or chapaties.

RECIPE: SPINACH-CHANA DAL SABJI

Ingredients:
4 cups spinach, chopped
1/2 cup chana dal
1-1/4 cups water
1 tsp mustard seeds
4-5 fresh curry leaves
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste
Grind to a smooth paste:
2 tbsp grated coconut
3-4 green chillies (or to taste
2 shallots
1 cm piece fresh ginger root
Method
1. Heat the oil, then add asafoetida, curry leaves and mustard seeds and let the seeds pop. Then add the raw chana dal and fry for 3-4 minutes.
2. Pour in the water and bring it to a brisk boil on high heat. Let it boil for 2 minutes, then turn down the heat and let the dal simmer till it is cooked (10-15 minutes).
The dal should be translucent - easy to squash between finger and thumb but still retaining its shape
3. Now add the spinach and stir it well.
4. Cover the pan and let it cook on low heat for 5 minutes or till the spinach is wilted.
5. Now stir in the ground coconut masala. Make sure it is mixed in well.
Let the spinach cook for another 2-3 minutes. Serve as a side dish with rotis or chapaties.

Raw shallot coconut chutney

I love getting my hands on the “chinna vengayam” (Tamil for “little onions”), also known as sambar onions. I guess they’re a variety of shallots common in India - pungent, purple and perfect for sambar, especially arachuvitta sambar(hence the description “sambar onions”). While I can and do get SOME Indian vegetables from an online Indian grocery site and expect them to be in reasonably good condition, I’ve been wary of buying these little purple fellas – mainly because the site itself warns buyers that “due to bad weather and other unfavourable conditions, the quality of these onions is not good” – or words to that effect. If the sellers themselves describe the onions as “not good”, I figure they’re practically rotting from the inside out (the onions, not the sellers), as onions do.

So a trip to London with Pete is always made the more exciting because I know that I’ll get the chance to visit a Sri Lankan shop and gloat over all the authentic South Indian produce – podalangai (snake gourd), palakottai (jackfruit seeds), chenai kizhangu (elephant yam) and so on. I don’t always buy these vegetables; hell, I may not even like some of them, but I certainly like the fact that, if I suddenly developed a craving for any or all of them, I could indulge myself. The fact that the vegetables are all available is what I find thrilling.

Anyway, I never come away from the Sri Lankan shops without buying about a kilo of the chinna vengayam. As I’ve said in other posts, they’re not fun to peel, being fiddly little things that leave your fingers and nails smelly for a while. But they’re worth the time and effort, because of their flavour and taste. Plus, once they’re peeled, they can be placed in a Ziploc bag in the vegetable compartment of the fridge… and they stay good for at least a month, ready for use. Sambar made with these little shallots is SO special!

They’re also, as I discovered, absolutely lovely in coconut chutney. This is possibly the simplest chutney ever, because it involves no cooking. And if you don’t want to do the tadka or seasoning, it’s simpler still. With these shallots, a little goes a long way so I only needed a few for the chutney… but the delicate flavour and aroma they added was awesome. Yum.

Recipe for: Raw-shallot coconut chutney



Ingredients:

1/4 cup grated fresh or frozen coconut
3-4 green chillies (or to taste)
3 or 4 small shallots
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
4-5 fresh or frozen curry leaves
a pinch asafoetida powder
salt to taste

Method:

1. Grind the coconut, shallots and chillies together with a little hot water, till smooth.



Remove to a serving bowl.

2. Heat the oil in a small pan and add the asafoetida powder, mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves. Cover the pan and let the mustard seeds pop, then uncover and stir. When the dal is pale golden brown, turn off the heat.

3. Pour over the ground coconut mixture,



add salt to taste and stir till well mixed.

Serve with dosas, idlis, upma, chapaties etc.

RECIPE: RAW SHALLOT COCONUT CHUTNEY

Ingredients:
1/4 cup grated fresh or frozen coconut
3-4 green chillies (or to taste)
3 or 4 small shallots
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
4-5 fresh or frozen curry leaves
a pinch asafoetida powder
salt to taste

Method:
1. Grind the coconut, shallots and chillies together with a little hot water, till smooth. Remove to a serving bowl.
2. Heat the oil in a small pan and add the asafoetida powder, mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves. Cover the pan and let the mustard seeds pop, then uncover and stir. When the dal is pale golden brown, turn off the heat.
3. Pour over the ground coconut mixture, add salt to taste and stir till well mixed.
Serve with dosas, idlis, upma, chapaties etc.

Vendhaya keerai (fenugreek greens) sambar

I'm not going to say this is an original idea, but - for me at least - it was inspired by the "keerai-kuzhambu" that happened fairly often when we were growing up. It was a generic name for a new dish born of the marriage of leftovers (basically, keerai (spinach) and whatever kuzhambu had been made - usually sambar or vetral kuzhambu) and served with pazhaya sadam (old cooked rice soaked in water overnight and made up the next day into a loose mix with buttermilk), or with dosas or idlis - but never with fresh rice, I guess we kids didn't think it deserved that accolade!

I've merely reprised the role of keerai-kuzhambu, as it were, by using vendhaya keerai (methi/fenugreek greens) instead of regular, to make fresh sambar. However, that didn't stop me from eating the sambar with curd rice.

Recipe for: Vendhaya keerai (fenugreek greens) sambar



Ingredients:

1/2 cup toor/tuvar dal
2 green chillies, slit (optional)
Fresh methi (fenugreek greens), leaves and tender stems chopped finely
5-6 shallots, sliced thin



2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium tomato, chopped
1.5 tsp tamarind paste dissolved in 4 cups water
2 tsp oil
1/3 tsp turmeric powder
1 small sprig curry leaves (6-10 leaves)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder (optional)
2 tsp sambar powder
1 tbsp rice flour
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

1. Pressure-cook the tur/tuvar dal 1.25 cups water, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and two slit green chillies. Remove the green chillies after the dal is cooked, and mash the dal smooth.

2. Heat the oil in a deep-sided pan and add the curry leaves, mustard seeds, cumin powder and asafoetida powder. Cover and let the mustard seeds pop.



3. Once the mustard seeds have popped, add the sliced shallots and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat till the shallots start to soften.



4. Add the chopped tomato and let it cook till it begins to turn mushy.



5. Now add the chopped vendhaya keerai (fenugreek greens) and stir till it's well mixed with the contents of the pan. Let it cook on med-low heat till completely wilted.



6. Now pour in the tamarind water and bring it to a brisk boil.



7. Once the water is boiling, add the sambar powder and mix it in.



Let this boil for 10-15 minutes, then add the cooked tur/tuvar dal along with the rice flour dissolved in 4-5 tbsp water. Add salt to taste, bring the sambar back to the boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.

8. Sprinkle the chopped coriander and serve hot over plain rice, or as a side dish with curd rice.

Tomato shallot coconut chutney

I think the previous post exhausted any reserves I might have had of creative writing (my euphemism for "blagging"), so all I have to say about this recipe is that it’s a variation of tomato chutney - or of coconut chutney, or onion chutney... I leave it to you, dear readers, to decide. I personally don’t bother overmuch about the nomenclature of anything edible, so long as it tastes good.

Recipe for: Tomato shallot coconut chutney




Ingredients:

3-4 shallots
1 tomato
3-4 green chillies (or as per taste)
3-4 tbsp fresh coconut, grated
3-4 tbsp fresh coriander leaves
1-1/2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
a few curry leaves
pinch of asafoetida

Salt to taste

1. Chop the shallots, tomato and green chillies into small pieces.



2. Heat the 1 tsp oil in a small pan and add the chopped tomatoes, shallots and chillies.



3. Fry on medium high heat till the onions become soft and the tomatoes mushy.



4. Let the cooked vegetables cool, then grind to a smooth paste along with the coconut and coriander leaves, using 3-4 tbsp of water. Remove to a serving bowl and mix in salt to taste.




5. Heat the remaining 1/2 tsp oil, add the mustard seeds, asafoetida powder, curry leaves and urad dal, cover and let the seeds pop and the dal turn golden. Pour this tempering over the chutney, stir it in and serve as an accompaniment with dosas, idlis, rotis, etc.

Herby onion rice with almonds

There is a slight – very slight – downside to growing your own herbs… the fact that there is so MUCH of them to use up during the growing season. The fact that most herbs are seasonal and die down during the winter is another pinprick to my gardening soul – if only because of the guilt of not using them as much as possible. You know, the sort of guilt generated by an inner voice that goes “You complained about not having your own herbs, now you have them you’re not using them, you’re letting them go waste, use 'em up, use 'em up, use 'em upppp!”).

Much as I love my fresh herbs, coriander is the one that I use the most and can’t grow enough of, especially as it is not the “cut and come again” kind of herb. I do grow maybe a couple of batches of coriander in the summer, but it’s usually quicker and more convenient to just buy a bunch from the supermarket.

Other herbs which I use reasonably frequently are basil, chives and mint. I have three kinds of mint and like I’ve said before, this year they’re growing wild. If they were not container-grown, they would probably have taken over the entire backyard – possibly like triffids, only fresh smelling (and also not poisonously carnivorous, unlike triffids).



Anyway, I’ve been using up more mint this summer than I ever have before, in an effort to quieten my brain’s guilty yammering and make use of at least some of the bounty – mint chutney, minty rice in several forms, salads, and so on. I made this rice a short while back, using up the last of my own fresh coriander, and some of my golden variegated mint. I didn’t make a paste of the herbs this time, just sliced them into as thin ribbons as possible and used them like that – I suppose it made a difference in that the taste was not so in-your-face-herby as when the mint is ground up. .

PS. I’m not so bothered about my mint plants now, as they have started flowering and there are bees, wasps and assorted other insects gorging themselves on the flowers. (Also, the hovering insects make it a bit dicey for me to pick the mint – I’m not brave or stoic about being stung!)

Recipe for: Herby onion rice with almonds



Ingredients:

1 cup basmati rice, soaked for 20 minutes and cooked al dente and cooled
2 medium onions + 4 shallots (optional)
1/2 cup coriander leaves
1/2 cup mint leaves
1 tbsp ginger, grated
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp skinned slivered almonds
1 tsp coriander powder
2 tbsp sultanas
1 tsp oil
1 tsp ghee
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Slice and onions and shallots thinly.



2. In a wide pan, heat 1 tsp oil and add the coriander powder and grated ginger. Fry for 30 seconds or till the ginger goes a darker shade of brown.



3. Add the sliced onions + shallots and cook them slowly on a medium-low flame with 2 tbsp water,


till softened and lightly caramelised (about 8 minutes).



4. Add the chopped herbs along with salt to taste and stir-fry till they wilt.



5. Add the cooked rice and gently fold in with a large spatula, taking care not to break or mush up the grains.



6. In a separate, small pan, heat the tsp of ghee till melted, then add the sultanas and stir till they swell up and go golden brown. Remove from the ghee, squeezing them gently with a spoon against the side of the pan to let the excess ghee drip away. Reserve.



7. To the ghee remaining in the pan, add the cumin seeds and the slivered almonds,


stirring with a spoon till the almonds take on a pale gold colour and the cumin seeds are aromatic.



7. Add the almonds and sultanas to the rice and mix in.



8. Serve hot with a spicy curry.

Minty golden bean pulao

I wonder if there comes a point when it's no longer a thrill to be able to go into your garden and pick your own vegetables, herbs or fruit fresh, to use in your own kitchen (or even to see used in someone else’s kitchen, come to that) for your own family's consumption. I haven't come to that stage and I don't see myself ever doing so, if only because I don’t grow as many edible things as I’d like to because of space constraints and my own limitations as a gardener.

Given that, every little thing that I use from my garden is a source of huge pleasure – the ripe blueberries that I pick off in ones and twos and eat rightaway (not enough of them to do anything else!); the chillies that I’ve picked and used; the herbs (3 types of mint, sage, thyme, chives, parsley, coriander and 3 types of basil), the spinach beet leaves… all of these seem to taste better for having grown in my containers.

This year, for the first time, I tried growing some dwarf yellow French beans – I have six plants that give me a handful of golden-yellow tender beans every week. Usually I’m happy to boil them, and eat them straightaway without further ado – they’re that good (and I like fresh French beans that much). But this time I wanted to use them in a recipe, and given that I’d got a bunch of mint (it really is growing like crazy this year) from my garden, the last of the coriander and some fresh green chillies, I thought to combine them all in one recipe – along with fresh green peas as well.

So that is what this is – a very green(fingered) pulao recipe.

Recipe for: Minty golden bean pulao



Ingredients:

1 cup basmati rice, washed and soaked for 20 minutes



1/2 cup golden (or green) French beans, sliced on the diagonal
1/2 cup fresh green peas
1 cup loosely packed mint leaves
1/2 cup loosely packed coriander leaves
2 tbsp lime/lemon juice
5 baby plum tomatoes (or 1 small tomato), chopped
2 medium onions, sliced thin
5 purple shallots, sliced thin



4 fresh green chillies (or to taste)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander powder
1" piece ginger, sliced
Salt to taste
1 tsp oil
2 cups water

Method:

1. Grind the mint, coriander, green chillies and ginger to a smooth paste along with the lemon juice. Reserve.



2. In a pan (preferably one which has a tight-fitting lid), heat the oil. Fry the cumin seeds and coriander powder for 30 seconds,



then add the sliced shallots and onions and stir-fry on high heat till the onions start to turn soft.



Stir in the tomatoes and let them cook for a couple of minutes.



3. Add the green peas and the sliced beans and mix them into the onions, stir-frying for 2-3 minutes.



Then add the ground mint-coriander paste



and let it fry till the raw smell goes (about 3 minutes).



4. Add the soaked rice (without the water), stirring it into the vegetable mixture, keeping the heat med-high. Be careful not to let it "catch" and burn.



5. Once the rice begins to turn opaque, add 2 cups water and salt to taste.



Bring this to a bubbling boil, then turn the heat right down and cover the pan with the lid. Let it cook on the lowest heat for 20 minutes, then turn the heat off and let the pulao sit undisturbed for another 15 minutes.



After that, uncover the pan, fluff up the rice with a fork and serve with raita and/or something crunchy on the side.